Is it just me or is Supt Lovegrove just being a bit of a scaremonger? “It’s not just a case of “if” but “when” he tells us.
I appreciate that the public needs to be vigilant. But does it have to be terrified, and does he have to put out a message that can only damage the festival.
Superintendent Brett Lovegrove said Scotland’s capital would be an “extremely attractive” objective for terrorists – and said the Edinburgh International Festival, which last year attracted 380,000 visitors, was a prime target.
Speaking at an anti-terrorism seminar in the capital, Mr Lovegrove, the head of counter-terrorism for the City of London Police, said: “Edinburgh is an extremely attractive proposition to terrorists, as it has many international businesses, an airport, sports stadiums and crowded streets.
“In particular, the Festival ticks all the right boxes, so it’s essential the public are made aware of the threat and what action should be taken.
“Like London and New York, it is also an iconic city which is flooded with tourists all year round.
“Last year’s Glasgow airport attack proved Scotland isn’t immune to the threat of terrorism. Unfortunately, it isn’t a case of ‘if’ there will be an attack on Edinburgh but ‘when’.”
Read the whole article here. And the comments – most of which subscribe to my point of view (other than the person who wittily exclaims that a bomb going off at the Edinburgh Festival would be a good thing. Oh really? a few hundred Edinburghers and arty tourists dead and maimed would be a good thing? An interesting take on terrorism).
Should The Scotsman have risen to this sensationalism and printed the story?
You tell me…
gibberish 
what a truly awful publication.
since moving to the highlands, the choice of morning newspaper is somewhat limited. the guardian and other national papers don’t arrive in our village until after 9am. so, for the past 3 months, we’ve been receiving the scotsman on our doormat each day before breakfast.
i can’t take it any more. i’d rather watch c-beebies as it would probably be more informative.
the scotsman is a haven for 2nd hand ideas, parochial trivia, factual inaccuracies, glaring typos, badly reproduced imagery and laughable – truly laughable – international coverage. this paper used to be reasonably respected but now…now…it’s just insulting.
i’m not surprised its buying public has dwindled to around 50,000 people per day. that’s 1% of the population. that’s not a national newspaper.
just yesterday the scotsman ran a double page spread celebrating the success of the festival. now they run this piece of sensationalism without any hint of criticism of the source.
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it’s a certain fact that it is in the interests of government – any government of any hue – to keep its citizens in a state of fear. that way they are easier to control.
It is also a fact that headlines like the one in the scotsman sells newspapers, regardless of which gutter they enamated from.
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It is all a little sad.
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CORRECT!
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